Insecticide caused strange odor at SF home

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A hazardous materials team that responded to a home in the Sunset on Sunday evening after two people were taken to a hospital for observation determined a strange odor in the air to be an insecticide, a fire dispatcher said.

The Fire Department was called to the home near 28th Avenue and Pacheco Street near the Sunset Reservoir shortly after 2 p.m. Sunday, a dispatcher said.

Two people were taken to Kaiser Permanente hospital for
observation, but no one was seriously injured in the incident, according to the Fire Department.

The hazardous materials team identified the odor as the
insecticide malathion, a dispatcher said.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, malathion has been registered for use in the U.S. since 1956 and is frequently used to kill mosquitoes.